Storage cabinet



Dec. 7, 1937. H. F. BEERS 2,101,465

STORAGE CABINET Filed March 22, 1935 In Z INVENTOR fifleex f7 171F563 ABY I ATTORN? Patented eel:o 7,, E

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application ct! 22, 1935, Serial No. 12,424

This invention relates to storage cabinets and particularly to theprovision of means for sealing the door or doors of such cabinets torender the interior of the cabinet air-tightj and the object of theinvention is to provide a cabinet, the door opening of which is providedwith a continuous channel in which is supported a strip of sealingmaterial preferably in the form of sponge rubber which is exposedthrough the channel to be engaged by the peripheral edges of a door ordoors controlling access to the cabinet, the strip having beveled edgeswhich form a neat and finished boundary corner or edge to the opening ofthe cabinet, facilitating cleaning thereof;

a further object being to provide means in the form of wedge orcam-shaped bolts for forcing the door or doors inwardly into engagementwith sealing strips of the cabinet to insure a positive seal and closuretogether with a similar locking 0 means for securing the doors in closedposition; a further object being to provide a cabinet of the classdescribed having a double wall structure principally at the top, bottomand side walls and on the door or doors employed; a further object beingto provide means for sealing adjacent edges of a double door structureto provide an airtight compartment within the cabinet; and with theseand other objects in view, the invention consists in a device of theclass and for the purpose specified, which is simple in construction,

efiicient in use and which is constructed as hereinafter described andclaimed.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following. specification, ofwhich the accompanying drawing forms a part, in which the separate partsof my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters ineach of the views, and in which:

Fig. l is a face view of a cabinet made according to my inventionshowing one door thereof in open position and with part of theconstruction broken away.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the cabinet on an enlarged scalewith parts of the construction broken away.

Fig. 3 is a partial section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 with parts of thestructure broken away; and,

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail view of a part of the cabinet with the doorin open position.

My invention, while applicable to cabinets or containersof various kindsand classes where it is desired to provide an air-tight or substantiallyair-tight compartment therewithin, deals primarily with the constructionof cabinets used in the storage of birds and other animal life as wellas matter or products subject to decomposition unless maintained in ahermetically sealed cabinet or container, and wherein the animal life orthe like have been treated for preserve. 5 tion, and wherein, in somecases, preservative chemicals or the like are employed in the cabinetsto maintain the preservation.

- To illustrate one method of carrying my invention into effect, I haveshown in the accoml0 panying drawing a cabinet b, the open side of whichis closed by two doors 3 and l. The cabinet 5 is constructed fromsubstantially similar top, bottom and side walls 8, 9, lb and iirespectively. These walls are composed of inner and 1 outer sheet metalparts with an air space i2 therebetween. The rear end portions of saidwalls include reinforcing. strips 53 forming supplemental corner pocketsor chambers id. The

back wall l5 of the cabinet consists of a single 20 1 sheet secured tothe other wall portions in the manner clearly seen in Fig. 2 of thedrawing, it being understood that all of the sheet metal wall portionsare riveted, welded or otherwise secured together in such manner as toform air-tight 25 connections therebetween.

At the front ends of the walls 8, 9, iii and ii are secured angle ironstrips l6, which in conjunction with inturned flanges ill and I8 of the.separate sheets of the wall portions 8, 9, l0 and 30 H form channels inwhich are arranged sealing strips l9 having beveled exposed surfaces 20extending outwardly through the opening of the cabinet. These beveledsurfaces present smooth and clean boundary walls to the opening of the35 cabinet and at the same time form relatively thick central bodyportions to said strips facilitating greater compression thereof.

Angle iron strips l6 are reinforced by other angle iron strips iGa togive strength and rigidity 4 to the front edge portions of. the cabinet.The arrangement of the angle iron strip I6 is such as to form a chamberor clearance space 2i between it and the outer wall to receive one ofthe butts 22 of a number of hinges 23. The other 45 butts 24 of saidhinges are attached to the outer walls 811, 1a of the doors 8 and I andthese attachments are reinforced by channeled reinforcing strips 24adisposed within the chambers of the doors 6 and l or between the outerplates 50 6a, Ia and the inner plates 8b, 1b thereof.

At this time it is well to point out that the purpose of the double wallstructure is not only to give strength and rigidity to the resultingcabinet, especially in using a light sheet metal 55 projecting beads 25which also form the means for joining the walls 8a, 8b; In, lb togetheras will appear upon a consideration of Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing.

The hinged side walls of the doors Ii and 1 are also provided withV-shaped extensions 28,

note Fig. 2 of the drawing, which provide a double seal of the doors inconnection with the sealing strip l8 and at the same time, reinforce andstrengthen said edges of the doors. The strip 18, which may be onecontinuous strip or a series of strips adhered together atthe-intersections thereof, is preferably composed of rubber or spongerubber but may be composed of any suitable yielding material suitablefor the intended It is also desirable to seal the adjacent edges of thedoors 8 and 1. For this purpose, I mount on the inner surface of onedoor, the door 6 in the construction shown, an elongated channeled strip21, the channel of which is directed outwardly and in which a thinsealing strip 28 is mounted. The channel terminates within theboundaries of the inner surfaces of the top and bottom walls 8 and 8,whereas the ends of the strip 28 are allowed to overlie the sealingstrip l8 as indicated at zaa in Fig. 1 of the drawing to insure a sealat the upper and lower corner portions bf the doors where they intersectat adjacent edges. The strip 28 is adapted to be compressed by' the beador flange 25 of the door 5 when placed in the channel 21, whereas thebead or flange 25 of the door I engages this strip to effect a seal inthe manner indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawing.

Pivotally mounted on the outer plates or walls 8a, la of the doors 8,1are handles Hand 88, each carryingwithin the chambers of the doorsplates 8! and 32. Coupled with these plates are upwardly directed links88, 88a which are pivoted to upper cam or wedge-shaped latch bolts 84,one of which is shown in detail in Fig. 3 of the drawing. Pivoted to theplates 81 and 82 are similar downwardly extending links 85, 85a whichare pivoted to other cam or wedge-shaped latch bolts 84a. The bolts 84and 8411 are guided in channel-shaped brackets 88 arranged within thechamber of the doors 6 and 1, and said bolts extend through the upperand lower surfaces of the doors and enter apertures formed in adjacentportions of the upper and lower walls 8 and 8 of thecabinet, one of theapertures being indicated at 81 in Fig. 3 of the drawing. The wallportionsof the cabinet where the latch bolts 84, 84a pass therethrough,are reinforced by L- shaped bolts 88. Pivoted to the plate 82 is a shortlink 88 to which is pivoted a latch bolt 48 similar to the bolts 84,84a, the bolt 48 passing through a U-shaped guide within the chamber ofthe door I and entering an aperture in the adjacent wall of the door 6.

The plates 8| and 82 arerotatable with the handles 28 and 88, and inopening the doors 8 and I, the plates are moved into the position shownat the right of Fig. ,1, in which position. the bolts 84, 84a of thedoor I are drawn into the chamber of the door, whereas in closing thedoors, the plates assume the position shown at the left of Fig. 1, inwhich position, the bolts 84, 84a

* net,

are projected and engage the apertures of the top and bottom walls 8 and8.

The cam surfaces or wedge-shaped ends of the bolts serve to force thedoors 8 and I inwardly to tensionally engage the sealing strip i8 andstrip 28. The bolt 48 also aids in this respect to draw the adjacentedges of the doors 8 and I together or to force the bead 25 of the door1 into flrm engagement with the strip 28.

With the foregoing construction, the doors 8 and i may be positivelysealed within the cabinet and with their adjacent edges sealed to forman air-tight closure for the compartment in order to maintain thedesired preservative conditions or characteristics of the compartment.In this connection it will be apparent that the design of cabinetdisclosed is intended for storage of a number of cabinets back to back,with the flush rear surfaces of the cabinet in abutting re-' lation,thus eliminating the necessity of a double wall structure, but in othertypes of cabinets, the double wall structure may be carried through outthe back wall, as will be apparent. If desired, suitable insulatingmaterial may be placed in the chambers of the hollow wall structure ofthe cabinets and doors, especially in adapting the cabinets for use inpreserving articles placed therein from a standpoint of temperature.

In the construction shown, the opposed side walls I8 and Ii are providedon the inner surfaces thereof with a plurality of vertically spacedcleats 42 formed from a corrugated sheet of metal, only part of thecleats being shown in Fig. I of the drawing for purposes ofsimplification.

A number of box-shaped trays 48 may be supported on the cleats 42, threeof which trays are shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. The trays have attheir lower edges outwardly extending flanges 44 which are adapted toseat upon the cleats 42. However, the arrangement of trays or shelvingswithin the cabinet may be modified to suit the particular use of thecabinet and to adapt it for storage of articles, products or animal lifeof various kinds and classes.

In certain uses of the cabinets, the same will be placed one upon theother. To facilitate alinement thereof, the upper surfaces will beprovided with two or more upwardly extending disc-like beads 45 adaptedto enter corresponding recesses 46 formed in the lower wall of anadjacent cabinet. The side, top and bottom walls of the cabinet may alsobe reinforced by a 'number of U-shaped reinforcing strips 41 such asindicated in the side walls in Fig. 2 of the 1 drawing, especially whenthe sheet metal employed on the cabinet is comparatively thin.

Having fully described my invention, what I.

. surface of the cabinet, a strip of sponge rubber arranged in andextending throughout the length of said channel, said strip beingsubstantially triangular in cross sectional form with the thick part ofsaid strip arranged centrally of the channel, a closure for the openingof said cabisaid closure having projecting flanges adapted to engagesaid strip throughout the peripheral edges of the closure to form anairtight connection between the closure and said cabinet, and meansmovably mounted in connection with the closure and engaging the cabinetto forcibly move the projecting flanges oi the closure into firmengagement with said strip.

2. A cabinet of the class described having sealed top, bottom, side andback walls, the front of the cabinet being open, the peripheral edges ofthe top, bottom and side walls of the cabinet adjacent the'iront openinghaving a continuous channel arranged within the front surface of thecabinet, a strip of sponge rubber arranged in and extending throughoutthe length of said channel, said strip being substantially triangular incross sectional form with the thick part of said strip arrangedcentrally oi the channel, a closure for the opening of said cabinet,said closure having projecting flanges adapted to engage said stripthroughout the peripheral edges of the closure to form an air-tightconnection between the closure and said cabinet, means movably mountedin connection with the closure and engaging the cabinet to forcibly movethe projecting flanges of the closure into flrm en.- gagement with saidstrip, and the boundary walls of said channels having inturned flangesengaging side edges of saidrubber strip to retain the same againstdisplacement.

. side edges of said strip terminating in mounting portions havingsubstantially parallel opposed surfaces and means on the walls of thecabinet engaging the mounting portions of said strip m supporting thestrip in connection with the cabinet.

4. The combination with a cabinet and a closure for an opening in saidcabinet, of means for forming a seal between the cabinet and closure,

said cabinet and closure being provided one with a continuous channeland the other with a projecting flange adapted to enter said channel,said channel consisting of wall portions arranged at right angles toeach other, the free edges of the wall portions having hook-shaped stripretaining flanges and a sealing strip of cushioning material havingwalls disposed at right angles to each other to flt snugly upon theright angle walls of said channel, the free side edges of the stripterminating in projecting parts engaged by the hook-shaped sides of saidchannel to retain the strip against displacement therefrom, and theexposed surface of said strip extending between the hook-shaped flangesbeing arranged at approximately 45 to the walls of said channel toprovide a thick freely yieldable central portion to said sealing stripadapted to be engaged by the first named flange.

5. The combination with a cabinet and a closure for an opening in saidcabinet, of means for forming a seal between the cabinet and closure,said cabinet and. closure being provided one with 'a continuous channeland the other with a projecting flange adapted to enter said channel,said channel consisting of wall portions arranged at. right angles toeach other, the free edges of the wall portions having hook-shaped stripretaining flanges and a sealing strip of cushioning material havingwalls disposed at right angles to each other to flt snugly upon theright angle walls of said channel, the free side edges of the stripterminating in projecting parts engaged by the hook-shaped sides oi saidchannel to retain the strip against displacement therefrom, the exposedsurface of said strip extending between the hook-shaped flanges beingarranged at approximately 45 to the walls of said channel to provide athick, freely yieldable central portion to said sealing strip adapted tobe engaged by the first named flange, and said cabinet and closure beingprovided with interengaging means for retaining the closure in closedposition and for forcibly moving the first named flange into engagementwith said sealing strip.

HARRY F. 'BEERS.

